“The piece originally began as a television pilot I wrote with my husband, although that version was much more fictionalized. We started to get some exciting traction with it, but then COVID hit and the project went on the back burner.”
WHO: Sally Brooks
WHAT: “Sally loves her organized, independent, private life. She answers to no-one but herself… until one day a small act of kindness, for a kid she barely knows, sends her head first into the orbit of a grieving widower and his strong-willed child. Suddenly everything changes. Stay is a sharply funny, deeply moving solo show about love arriving unexpectedly, grief rewriting the rules and family being made in real time. With wit and candour, Sally charts an unexpected journey from bystander to caregiver, discovering that staying, through chaos, sorrow and love, may be the bravest act of all.”
WHERE: The Penny at Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24)
WHEN: 15:00 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Yes, this is my first time at Edinburgh, and I couldn’t be more excited. There is something extraordinary about the Fringe: The sheer volume of stories, the courage of the artists, and the generosity of audiences who show up ready to discover something new are astonishing. I’m looking forward to surprise, connection, laughter, and the occasional emotional ambush. My show, STAY, is a deeply personal story, and it feels very meaningful to bring it to a place built around adventurous storytelling.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2025 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
I’ve learned that doing something brave does not always feel brave while you’re doing it. Sometimes it feels like logistics, panic, rewrites, poor sleep, and snacks.
I’ve also learned that asking for help is not the same as losing control, which is a new concept for me, because I was very attached to that misunderstanding. Making STAY has allowed me to collaborate, trust, let people in, and keep going even when I feel most vulnerable.
Tell us about your show.
STAY is written and performed by me, Sally Brooks, and directed by Padraic Lillis. The piece originally began as a television pilot I wrote with my husband, although that version was much more fictionalized. We started to get some exciting traction with it, but then COVID hit and the project went on the back burner.
In December 2025, I returned to the material and began reshaping it into a solo show, this time telling the true story. I brought the piece to Ines Wurth, who came on as producer and has been instrumental in helping me navigate the festival process. In many ways, my team came together through a shared belief in the story and a desire to bring it to audiences in its most immediate, personal form.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
After STAY, I’d send audiences toward shows that also use personal storytelling to explore transformation, grief, reinvention, and the strange things that happen when life refuses to go according to plan.
I’d recommend Kristina Libby’s I Almost Died for This?!, Kona Morris’s How to Poop in an Outhouse at -58°C, Jerry Topitzer’s Once Upon a Wall Street, and SJ Hodges’s Already Here. They are all very different shows, but each one seems to ask some version of the same question: what happens when the life you thought you were living gets interrupted, and you have to become someone new?
That’s the kind of work I love at a festival. Personal, funny, surprising, a little dangerous, and full of heart.
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